Chapter 11: Rebel
It had been two days since the shooting. Madisen was still acting withdrawn. She wasn’t saying much and stuck to our room. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she would just shut down. I was at my wits’ end, trying to figure out how to reassure her and make up for going off on her like an idiot. Right now, she was taking another nap. While I was happy that she was resting, her sleep was punctuated by restless periods. I went to find Bull. I needed to talk to him about this. He’d been married twice. He was the expert in my opinion on dealing with women. I found him in his office at the clubhouse.
“What’s up, Rebel? How is Madisen doing?”
“Not good. She’s still withdrawn and barely speaks. She naps all the time, but it’s not restful. I’m fucking worried, Bull. What can I do? I don’t know if she’s still pissed at me, worried about the cartel and those two MCs, or a combination of both. She won’t even leave our room.” I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.
“Honestly, it could be both of those things or something totally different. All you can do is be there, offer comfort, and keep apologizing for getting pissed at her. I’ll ask Jocelyn to talk to her. Sometimes they need another woman to talk to. In fact, let me see if we can get something set up. They need a girls’ day. They can’t leave but we can bring it to them. Let me see what I can do.”
“Thanks! I appreciate it. Anything to get her to talk. She barely eats. Only way I can get her to is to tell her it’s for the baby. If she keeps this up, I’m going to call Dr. Foreman.”
Bull agreed to get to work on it and to get Jocelyn to come talk to her. I grabbed us a few bottles of water and her another juice, then went back to our room. I found her awake, staring at the wall. I sat down on the bed.
“Baby, you’re really worrying me. You need to talk to me. I’m so sorry I acted the way I did the other day. I never meant to yell at you or tell you about the other clubs or the cartel like that. You never leave the room and you barely eat. God, baby, please talk to me,” I begged her. She turned her sad eyes to me.
“I can’t. I don’t know what to do, Ronan. I’ve brought a shitstorm down on you and the club. Hell, you’ve had to drag in others as well. All these people are in danger because of me. A part of me thinks maybe I should just give myself up to him. Maybe he’ll be satisfied that way. Then, no one else gets hurt. If you’d never met me, you wouldn’t be in danger.” Her words terrified me and sent tremors running through my body.
“No! Don’t even say that, let alone think it. You’re not going to give yourself up. We’ve got this. Yes, there’s danger, but we’ve dealt with danger before. It’s not anything new. And we’ve got more help this time. Some friends of the club, the Dark Patriots, deal with people like the cartel all the time. They’re helping out on this one. I know being cooped up is killing you. I promise as soon as we get this handled, you’ll be back at the bakery. I’ve checked in with them every day. It’s going great. Jessica and Trudie are doing an awesome job. I need you to be happy again and not withdrawn and staying in our room.”
I curled up with her in my arms. She sagged into me and rubbed her face on my chest. This is the most reaction she’s displayed in days. I was hopeful this meant she was snapping out of it.
“I know you want us safe. I can’t help but worry and wonder. How did it get so crazy? My stepdad didn’t have any contact with MCs or the cartel that I ever saw. He had creepy friends, but none looked like a biker or a slick drug dealer. Of course, I’m stereotyping, I guess. He’d work only now and then. He was always getting fired or quitting. My mom was the one who worked all the time. When I turned thirteen, I started to work after school and on weekends to help with money. I babysat, cleaned stores and houses, and even worked behind the counter at the nearby convenience store. They paid me under the table. When things were slow, I’d help in the bakery. That’s where I really got the bug to be a baker.”
She had never shared this with me. I hated that she had to work since she was so young, but it made sense why she was so independent. I hugged her and gently kissed her lips. “You’re amazing. All that and you still found time to care for your mom and go to culinary school. As for your stepdad, he might have met someone with the MC or cartel in prison. We’re checking into that too. Right now, I want you to relax and try to get out of the room.” She nodded. A knock sounded at the door. I got up and opened it to find Jocelyn. I waved her inside. She went straight to Madisen and they started to chat.
“I’ll leave you ladies alone. I’ll be in the common room if you need me, babe.” I gave her a quick kiss and she smiled. I left our room, feeling a bit lighter, though her remark about giving herself up was worrying me. I joined Bull, Tank, and Payne at the table they were sitting at.
“Is she happy to see Jocelyn?” Bull asked.
“Yeah, it looked like it. She told me some things. I have to admit one thing scared the hell out of me.” They raised their eyebrows. I told them everything she’d said, including giving herself up. Payne swore while Tank and Bull looked worried.
“No damn way we’re going to let an old lady give herself up to protect our asses. Fuck that. You tell her she tries it, and she’ll have more than you to answer to. We need to be sure we have everyone keep an eye out for her. I hope she doesn’t try to sneak off, but if she does, we’ll be ready to catch her.” That was the most I think I’d ever heard Payne say. He was usually very quiet. He was upset at the thought of her doing it. Hell, so was I. The others nodded in agreement.
“We will. I think she just said it, to get it off her chest. I wonder if we could get Jessica here so she can talk to her and find out firsthand how the bakery is doing?”
“Make it for Saturday. We’ll get someone else to cover her spot. I have Dev working on getting someone from the local spa place to come and do a spa day here for them. You know, hair, nails, facials and that shit. I heard Jocelyn and Devyn talking about how good they are. Hell, if they were for sale, I’d say we buy them. The one the club has in Dublin Falls is doing great. Devyn said she’d talk to one of the ladies they like the most. She has her number.”
I liked the idea of bringing the spa to them. She needed some pampering. Hell, all of the ladies did. They put up with a lot to be with us. I told him I thought it was a great idea.
“I spoke to Sean. They had heard of the Diaz Cartel and were working to see if they could get more information. Something about someone on the inside.” That made me feel better.
They told us we could have more if we wanted. Our chapter in Louisville, Kentucky and Gastonia, North Carolina sent us three each. These along with the ones sent by Terror and Wrath gave us an extra twenty-seven men. This allowed us to keep the work going at the garage, bakery, the construction company and our other real estate company as well as The Dark Angel. Shifts were put on Trudie and Jessica. The grounds inside the compound had roving patrols. It might sound like overkill, but not when it came to keeping my woman and child safe from the fucking cartel and a bunch of outlaw bikers.
The Devil’s Horsemen and Demon’s Blood were pure one-percenter clubs. They made their money running drugs, women, and guns as well as hiring out as hitmen. We knew of them, but prior to this, they stayed out of our territory, so we stayed out of their business. However, if they were going to hit one of ours, the truce was over. We had orders from Bull to kill on sight anyone we could confirm as one of those two clubs. Because if we saw them, it was a sure bet they were here to take one of us out or to get Madisen.
As I sat there lost in thought, Bull’s phone rang. He frowned when he saw it. “Hello. You got something for me, Smoke?” I sat forward as Bull listened to him. After a few minutes of me fuming to know what Smoke was saying, Bull cut him off, “Hold on a minute. Let me get to my office. I have Tank, Payne, and Rebel with me. They need to hear this too.” We all got up and followed him to his office. Once there, he put the phone on speaker. “Go ahead, Smoke. Repeat what you just told me.”
“Hey, guys. So, here is the latest. It looks like the hit order on your woman was changed. It is no longer a hit to kill her. They still want those two MCs to get their hands on her, but it’s not to deliver her so she can be killed. Apparently, your woman has caught the eye of someone. One of the cartel leaders has taken a liking to Madisen’s photograph. He wants her for himself. He talked her stepdad into changing the contract. He can get his revenge by giving her to the cartel. This will settle the debt of the money they loaned him to set up the original hit.”
Hearing this made me see red. No fucking way some cartel bastard was getting my woman. I roared as I came up out of my chair. “Over my dead body! Who wants her? I want a name. How in the hell did you find out all this, Smoke?”
“The guy is an actual nephew of the cartel leader. His name is Heraclio Diaz. I found this out from the insider Sean has in the Devil’s Horsemen. Whoever it is, they overheard the whole discussion. The club was bitching about it. They were hoping to get a piece of Madisen when they took her. Now, she’s been placed on a do-not-touch status. Heraclio doesn’t want anyone touching her but him. I’m sorry I had to tell you this.”
I kicked the chair across the room. I wanted to scream. Some damn drug-running bastard wanted my woman. I’d kill the whole fucking cartel if I had to. No way was she going to be taken by one of them. Bull held up his hand to stop me from destroying his office.
“We know, brother. We won’t let it happen. What we need to know is, can Sean’s guy on the inside find out when or how they plan to get her? We’ve got a lot of extra bodies, but it would be helpful. Also, if this nephew is eliminated, how much heat will it bring down on us from his uncle and the cartel? Is he like a favorite or something?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out. Whoever Sean has, they’re deep. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out more. Rebel, hang in there. We’ll handle this. Since this involves drug trafficking, I wanted to know, Bull, do you want me to get Anderson involved?”